In the year to 31st December 2022 Lee Marley Brickwork made a pre-tax loss of £2.1m (2021: £1.1m profit) on turnover of £65.6m (2021: £56.9m).
Profitability was hit by what chief executive Lee Marley described as “exceptional material and wage inflation, and underperformance on a handful of contracts in our Scottish and Midlands businesses, which contributed to the operating loss in the year of £1.7m (2022: operating profit of £1.2m)”.
However, he added: “Trading into 2023 has been string as we continue to grow our revenues whilst we manage out our positions on fixed-price legacy projects and realign pricing on new projects to reflect the impacts if inflation. The impact of price renegotiation and mitigation will be reflected in margins delivered in 2023. We have seen an improved performance in our Scotland division but closed our Leeds office during 2022.”
Order book at the end of 2022 stood at £81m (2021: £60m).
Net debt grew to £8.2m (2021: £7.0m) as a result of the operating loss.
Average employee numbers grew from 178 to 119 in the year.
On 1st January the Lee Marley Group of companies restructured, with the shares of Lee Marley Brickwork and subsidiary Lee Marley Access Management (the scaffolding business) were transferred to Lee Marley Group Holding, a company jointly controlled by Lee Marley and chief operating officer Dan Clarkson.
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